Greenpeace

Recognized as a top National Climate Change nonprofit in the following years:

40
11

"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.

Headquarters Location:
Washington, D.C.
Founded:
1971

Mission:
Greenpeace is the leading independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.

Story:
Greenpeace and countless activists have asked Kimberly-Clark (K-C) to help save the Boreal forest since 2004, when the Kleercut campaign was launched. In a tremendous victory for ancient forests, including the Boreal, the company that makes popular brands like Kleenex,…
Read the full story.

Expert Reviews: Evidence of Impact

Greenpeace has an international reputation and a global reach. Their bold and creative approach to activism has helped bring about an array of changes. They have been successful in changing policy and business practices to mitigate climate change damage. Specifically, their work around coal has been very strong. The organization has a strong base of support though their membership. They are a passionate and educated group that helps to push the work forward.
See the complete expert review.

Leadership

Phil Radford .
As the Executive Director of Greenpeace, Phil Radford is at the helm of one of the largest and most influential environmental organizations in the country. Phil leads a national team of 500 highly-skilled environmental leaders working in 23 cities across the U.S. on national and global campaigns to protect our planet’s oceans, forests, and climate.

Story:
Greenpeace and countless activists have asked Kimberly-Clark (K-C) to help save the Boreal forest since 2004, when the Kleercut campaign was launched. In a tremendous victory for ancient forests, including the Boreal, the company that makes popular brands like Kleenex, Scott, and Cottonelle has announced a new policy that places it among the industry leaders in sustainability, bringing the Kleercut campaign to a successful completion.

Kimberly-Clark has set a goal of obtaining 100 percent of the wood fiber used in its products - including the flagship brand Kleenex - from environmentally responsible sources. By 2011, Kimberly-Clark will ensure that 40 percent of its North American fiber is either recycled or certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - a 71 percent increase from 2007 levels, representing over 600,000 tonnes of fiber. Also by 2011, Kimberly-Clark will eliminate any fiber from the North American Boreal Forest that is not FSC-certified.

"The revised standards are proof that when responsible companies and environmental advocates come together, the results can be good for business and good for the planet," said Scott Paul, Greenpeace USA Forest Campaign Director. "Kimberly-Clark's efforts are a challenge to its competitors. I hope they pay close attention."

K-C's sustainability policy: Not just about protecting the Boreal
The Canadian Boreal Forest is North America's largest ancient forest, providing habitat for threatened wildlife such as woodland caribou and over 1 billion migratory birds.

But clearcutting doesn't just wipe out the biodiversity of a forest - it wipes out an essential carbon storehouse. Canada's Boreal Forest stores an estimate 186 billion tones of carbon, 27 times the world's annual fossil fuel emissions -- meaning that a victory for the Boreal is also a victory for the climate.

While protecting the North American Boreal Forest has been a focus of the Kleercut campaign, K-C's policy is about protecting Endangered Forests the world over. Greenpeace would not have agreed to anything less.

Because of K-C's place in the paper products market, the company's new policy will send a strong signal to its competitors, Procter & Gamble and Georgia Pacific, that creating a policy that protects ancient forests is a key element of sustainable business.

Expert Reviews of
Greenpeace

Evidence of Impact Summary:

Greenpeace has an international reputation and a global reach. Their bold and creative approach to activism has helped bring about an array of changes. They have been successful in changing policy and business practices to mitigate climate change damage. Specifically, their work around coal has been very strong. The organization has a strong base of support though their membership. They are a passionate and educated group that helps to push the work forward.
See expert comments.

Organization Strengths Summary:

A prominent organization strength for Greenpeace is their command over strategy. It is present in many aspects of their work, most notably their ability to combine public activism with legal approaches and other forms of intervention. The organization’s staff is knowledgeable in the policy arena and efficient on a tight budget. Greenpeace is known to have strong integrity both in terms of leadership and organizational structure.
See expert comments.

Areas for Improvement Summary:

While Greenpeace is active in the policy arena, this body of work is not as well-known as their more public activism. They could make their policy work more visible. One expert points out that they could work on deepening their knowledge-base on particular issues, but points out that it is difficult to balance this with maintaining their current level of engagement. The organization should also consider working to increase the number of grassroots activists nationally. Lastly, Greenpeace could improve on their collaboration with other organizations by spending more time planning with these organizations and decreasing their time spent on internal processing.
See expert comments.

Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact

Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.

Show:

X

Foundation Professionals (F)

X

Researchers and Faculty (R)

X

Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)

X

Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)

Broad Impact

F

They have an international profile.

F

Greenpeace has built successful campaigns to reduce the footprint of an array of industries and countries. The organization has no ties to industry, a global reach, and a membership that is fully engaged and becoming more educated.

O

Greenpeace has done wonderful, creative work on climate issues since at least the 1980s. They were a real early leader in climate issues, and have also long worked to protect the Arctic from extreme energy development.

Powerful Activism

N

The organization has great leadership from the top, and a passionate base of activists.

N

Greenpeace is impactful through their creative and bold actions and demands.

Great Marketing

F

They have strong marketing.

Excellent Strategy

F

Greenpeace's strengths are their flexibility and expert leadership. Kumi Naidoo speaks truth to power and is backed by an array of people who really know their stuff on the policy front. The organization runs effectively on a shoestring and does not rely on outside funding for maintaining programs. Lastly, their visible campaigns on an issue mask behind-the-scenes strategic negotiations the matter.

F

Greenpeace has a strong campaigning focus and strategy development.

N

They have hard-hitting, great communications, and the ability to employ direct action to complement other legal and community efforts.

N

They "stay the path" and keep coming up with fresh ways to reach the public. The public trusts Greenpeace to be heard and to keep working consistently on this issue.

Organizational Ideology

Leadership

Phil Radford
Executive Director

As the Executive Director of Greenpeace, Phil Radford is at the helm of one of the largest and most influential environmental organizations in the country. Phil leads a national team of 500 highly-skilled environmental leaders working in 23 cities across the U.S. on national and global campaigns to protect our planet’s oceans, forests, and climate.

Phil began his environmental career as a student organizing to shut down incinerators on the West Side of Chicago. Phil spent the next five years running door to door fundraising and campaign offices for PIRG, the Sierra Club, and the Human Rights Campaign. With his roots in local organizing and fundraising, Radford has always specialized in mobilizing people to raise their voices for the right to clean air, clean water, and a healthy planet for our children.

Prior to taking on his current role, Phil worked as Greenpeace’s Grassroots and National Canvass Director for six years. During that period, Phil’s team doubled the budget of Greenpeace in the U.S., quadrupled its staff, launched a national student organizing program, and created an online to offline mobilization program.

Over the past decade, Phil has managed several high-impact, national campaigns on global warming, including Global Warming 2000, which convinced Senator McCain to take leadership on global warming; The Global Climate Coalition Campaign, where he managed the national field work that forced Ford, GM, Texaco, and other companies to stop funding the Global Climate Coalition, the industry front-group funding global warming skeptics; persuading Citigroup to increase investments in clean energy; and working with over a dozen communities to make significant investments in clean energy.

Phil is a regular contributor to Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN, Fox News, NBC, and ABC News.

Phil has a degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and a certificate in Non-profit Management from Georgetown University.

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